How much do people usually put down when ordering a car? I thought I saw something around $500 on one of the posts here. I asked my dealer he said $2500? Seems rather high to me. $500 is more in line with what I would expect.

FYI, planning on an AW 335i, Black/Alum, 6MT. All options Except 19's, Active Steering, Active Cruise, Sirius and Sun Shade. (Shorter to write what options I am Not getting vs what I am).

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"The most important mod is the one behind the steering wheel" - Koyokid RIP

FWIW, I put down $0 when my CA ordered my car...it depends on your relationship with them and if they would be able to sell the car if you decided to back out of the deal, e.g. a crazy color combination.

Generally, it's in the $500-1000 range, which is fully refundable of course. Anything more, and I'd ask for a really good reason from them. Hope that helps.

I dont know about VA but here in CA deposits are 100% refundable. So maybe you can tell your salesman that it doesnt matter what you put down/deposit, you can always withdraw it so ask him to play nice and just order the car (assuming deposits work the same way they do here).

i heard that deposits in CA are refundable but be careful b/c places such as stevens creek make you sign an agreement saying that if you don't take delivery of the car you have to pay the destination charge which is like $795. Or maybe it's only that place?

i heard that deposits in CA are refundable but be careful b/c places such as stevens creek make you sign an agreement saying that if you don't take delivery of the car you have to pay the destination charge which is like $795. Or maybe it's only that place?

Stevens Creek have their own things because they're located on what could be the main street around here so they have to charge money through their creative ways to pay for the high cost of rent. And it's not just SC BMW, many dealers on SC blvd have mark ups and their own ways of doing things as well. For example, Honda of SC has $3k markups on all their new cars.

FWIW, I put down $0 when my CA ordered my car...it depends on your relationship with them and if they would be able to sell the car if you decided to back out of the deal, e.g. a crazy color combination.

Generally, it's in the $500-1000 range, which is fully refundable of course. Anything more, and I'd ask for a really good reason from them. Hope that helps.

I ended up putting 930 down, my first payment, but I told them thats either going to be my first payment or they have to refund it to me. So they will just credit my credit card when I sign the final papers when the car comes in. So basically 0 down

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"The most important mod is the one behind the steering wheel" - Koyokid RIP

Is it true you dont get deposit back once the is car is being built? Thats the salesguy told me.

I too was under the impression that under state law its fully refundable.

Nevermind... forgot about those "You have to sign some sort of agreement" thing.

I put down $1K on a car I ordered today. They told me fully refundable at any stage up to the moment I take delivery. If the car is already at the dealership and I back out, they will hold my deposit until they sell the car to someone else.

Just use a credit card and it'll be refundable wherever you go. Credit cards, by both merchant and customer agreement, can only be used for a "completed transaction." If the dealer gives you any problems with a refund, call your credit card company and let them deal with it. If you have an AMEX, use that. They are by far the easiest company to get to go to bat for you. I don't condone this by a long shot, but I know a guy who has contested legitimate charges (which were documented and signed by him) that AMEX wiped off. If you have a remotely decent case, it will be off your bill before you finish asking for it. I worked in the dealership world washing cars when I was in High School, and have a friend who almost had to burn down a Cadillac shop to get his deposit back, so I would never put down a deposit with anything but a credit card. To the OP, $2,500 does sound steep even for a well optioned car. Unless you're getting it in a paint-to-match color that happens to be mint green, they can sell the car regardless of options. (An XI might be a tough sell in Miami or LA, but you probably wouldn't order one in that region anyway.)

How much do people usually put down when ordering a car? I thought I saw something around $500 on one of the posts here. I asked my dealer he said $2500? Seems rather high to me. $500 is more in line with what I would expect.

FYI, planning on an AW 335i, Black/Alum, 6MT. All options Except 19's, Active Steering, Active Cruise, Sirius and Sun Shade. (Shorter to write what options I am Not getting vs what I am).

You mean deposit for the order, or do you mean when financing? Deposit, $500 refundable at any time....when financing, whatever gets the payment to a reasonable monthly amount based on your net income. For me I decided I wanted a payment no more than $475, so it was in the neighborhood of 22k. I've seen the lease the car because, "I can invest the money and make more money" arguments, which encourage one to put little or nothing down. That argument basically fell apart for 2k7, when real estate went down, and the S&P 500 did 3.5% for the entire year.

I put down $1K on a car I ordered today. They told me fully refundable at any stage up to the moment I take delivery. If the car is already at the dealership and I back out, they will hold my deposit until they sell the car to someone else.

You back out, you should get your deposit back, end of story--dealerships have been known to drag their feet, but it should not be conditional upon sale of the vehicle. They too play the credit cycle game, unfortunately.